Double Your Trouble: Dual Arrest in Family Violence

Abstract

When arrest is mandated for domestic violence crimes the arrest of two individuals, or dual arrest, often occurs. This study examines the characteristics of the crime and the people caught in dual arrests, with a special emphasis on the women arrested. The data were drawn from a population of 4138 disposed family violence cases in the criminal court, 448 of their arrest records, and 90 prosecutor files. Thirty three percent of the 448 cases disposed were dual arrests. Persons subject to dual arrest were primarily white, young, nonurban, unmarried employed persons. The incident was likely to involve alcohol or drug use and physical beating with hands or fists. Forty percent of the women arrested were previously victimized in a domestic violence incident. Findings suggest that dual arrests may reflect both the differential use of violence in domestic relations and the over enforcement of policy by some police departments.